Bright and early at 8:30 next morning, we hopped on the bus to Segovia. It was 2.5 hours with a change of bus in Ávila. In our less than half an hour in Ávila it was so cold, so when we reached Segovia, we were happy to be blessed with such sunny weather again.
First thing on our agenda was finding the Cathedral since we wanted to catch mass at 12:30. We found it without much difficulty, and since we still had an hour to spare, we decided to have breakfast at the terrace of one of the cafés in Plaza Mayor. We sipped our coffees and ate our
tostadas with
tomate, all the while taking in the view of the Cathedral.
The Cathedral is free to visit on Sundays from 9:30-1:15 (and celebrates mass at 11:00 and 12:30). After hearing mass, we walked around the Cathedral. It was another beautiful one, and again, I was awed by the columns, vaults, and ceilings.
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| The main altar |
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| Vaults |
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| Windows |
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| Ceilings |
Our next stop was the
Real Alcazar. This castle is supposedly one of the inspirations for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle (along with the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany). It was built on top of a rock, but strangely, its not situated on the highest point of the city (the Cathedral is). Nevertheless, the Real Alcazar served as a fortress in the 12th century, and later on as a royal palace, state prison, a Royal Artillery College, and a military academy.
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| Inspiration for the Cinderella Castle |
We paid the entrance fee (€5; they wouldn't give us a discount as students needed to show their university cards) and headed inside to explore. Some pictures of the interior below (more ceilings because I seem to be quite fascinated by them).
These styles were similar to that of the
Alhambra (Moorish design).
On our way back to the Plaza del Azoguejo, I snapped some pictures of the pretty buildings lining the streets. I love the motifs they have on the exterior. The old city along with the Aqueduct (next up) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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| Motifs on the buildings |
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| Motifs on the buildings |
Out last stop of the day was to see Segovia's famous
Aqueduct, located in Plaza del Azoguejo. The Roman aqueduct is one of the best-preserved ancient monuments in the Iberian Peninsula. It's truly a marvel to look at. The light was also perfect at that time, and we took a lot of pictures until our hungry stomachs couldn't wait any longer.
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| Thank you, Nice, for all the wonderful pictures you took of us this weekend! |
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| My fail-ish panorama of the Aqueducts |
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| It was so nice and sunny out, there were many people gathered at the Plaza hanging out and having lunch. |
We ended the afternoon with a
really late lunch. We wanted to try some
cochinillo, Segovia's specialty, but we couldn't find any affordable restaurants nearby and didn't have much time to go searching for one. We settled at a small restaurant off the plaza with a plato combinad. I got a glass of wine, and as the waitress was pouring the wine, she realized there was little wine left in the bottle, so she emptied it out into my glass. Not complaining!
It was nearing 6pm, so we headed back to the bus station so Nice and Lia could catch their bus back to Salamanca. They would be returning to Huelva early the next morning, so I opted to take the bus back to Valladolid instead of spending an extra night in Salamanca. It was a great weekend, and I was really happy I got to spend it with Nice and Lia. Two days of talking, laughing, stories, (adulting!), ranting, and more laughing wasn't enough. 'Til the next!
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